Hebgen Lake, Montana

Last weekend we took a last-minute trip up to Montana to spend the afternoon with my family and some friends boating at Hebgen Lake. On the way to Montana we stopped at Register Rock along the highway just because we had no plans and I'd always wanted to stop there but we never made the time before.

Register Rock is on the Oregon/California Trail and is one of the rocks where early pioneers scratched their names and the dates of when they passed through onto the rock. This particular rock was a popular one for "registering" on because it was a popular camping spot along the Snake River with shade from large trees and plenty of fresh water from a nice creek.

I'm glad we stopped by to see this little piece of history!

From there we continued on to Idaho Falls where we stayed the night with our friends, Quinn and Natalie Thibodeau and their family. The next day we all set out to go up to Montana and meet my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike (it had been almost 3 years since we'd last seen them) and my Aunt Donna, Uncle Jim and cousin Megan (who we'd seen a few months ago, except for my Uncle who I hadn't seen in about 2 1/2 years).

The day started out beautiful and warm without a cloud in the sky! Perfect for boating, picknicking and playing on the beach!

We set up a nice spot on the beach and had TONS of delicious food!!!

I've always held a special place in my heart for my Auntie Don-Don ever since I was a little baby...I think Olivia does too because she was seldom ever out of Donna's arms! Aunt Donna kept her well-fed and gave her lots of kisses!

And when she wasn't being fed and cuddled Olivia had a blast playing in the sand and water. Her favorite part was just walking around holding the buckets in her hands!

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike showed us a great time on their boat, which Uncle Mike Captained most of the time:

I went on the tube with Aunt Brenda and Natalie (below) and we screamed our foolish heads off!!! It was so much fun- I don't know what it is about scaring yourself to death that is so fun!

I also got to waterski for like 2 minutes- It's been 8 years since I've waterskiied so it took me 4 tries to actually get up and then the water was choppy and head over heals I went! My skis flew off my feet and over my head...the clouds were also rolling in so I figured I'd get some more tubing in before the rain really hit! Maybe next summer I'll get more skiing in!

Aunty Donn-Donn

Megan loved having some new friends to play with! They were the first to "volunteer" to go tubing!

Kaytee, Megan and Annie

Annie and her mom, Nat

Chris was relaxing in the water when he got "pushed out to sea!" Before he knew it he was WAY out there! He didn't want to get his shirt wet so he tried to paddle himself back to shore...

Then he was rescued by a bunch of brave little girls!!!

(Oddly enough, he later fell in the water when he was trying to get on the boat and his shirt got soaked! He had to drive back home shirtless!!!)

Quinn tuckered out from wakeboarding!

These were some really cool pelicans on a sandy point on the other side of the lake. My Aunt Brenda took us "girls" for a ride around the lake on the boat and I got the best picture I could.

And then the clouds rolled in... (earlier in the day after we'd been at the lake for a few hours we had to hurry and pack everything up because a huge storm blew in. All 13 of us huddled under a little canopy during a 20 minute long freak Montana hailstorm!

When we saw these clouds coming in again we took the hint and packed up as fast as we could so we could make the two trips back to the marina. It was a crazy fun day!

My kids were pooped by the end of the day so they were acting pretty silly. As soon as we hit the road Livy fell right asleep! (Notice the BIG GIRL car seat!)